Digital Technology in the Wax Room ICI 59 th Technical Conference - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Digital Technology in the Wax Room ICI 59 th Technical Conference & Expo Nashville, TN 7 th – 10 th October 2012 Bruce Phipps President MPI Incorporated

Where we came from • Trip down Memory Lane • 40 years ago controls were minimal

Where are we going • Today with Digital Controls we can have the opportunity to see what is happening with: – Wax Temperature – Wax Flow – Wax Pressure • Hold tighter tolerances

Some things never change �No matter how sophisticated the instrumentation, the application of that instrumentation and how it is used to control the process is the real challenge .�

Key Input Variables Key Input Variables: • Temperature • Flow • Pressure • Time • Wax

Key Input Variables Wax Flow Wax Pressure Wax Temperature

Key Input Variables Timer Die Temperature Wax Wax Flow Wax Pressure Wax Temperature

Digital Technology in the Wax Room Digital Technology allows us to accurately control wax: • Temperature • Flow • Pressure • Time • Wax

The Process of Wax Injection • The goal of wax injection is to replace 100% of the air in the die with wax • If you achieve this goal you will get a perfect wax pattern • To be successful you need control

The Process of Wax Injection Digital technology provides the control

Digital Technology in the Wax Room • Wax Temperature Control

Digital Technology in the Wax Room • Wax Temperature Control • Wax Flow and Pressure Control

Digital Technology in the Wax Room

Digital Technology in the Wax Room • Wax Temperature Control • Wax Flow and Pressure Control • Die Temperature Control

Digital Technology in the Wax Room • Wax Temperature Control • Wax Flow and Pressure Control • Die Temperature Control • Injection Time

Digital Technology in the Wax Room Digital Technology allows for: • Store recipes

Digital Technology in the Wax Room Digital Technology allows for: • Store recipes • Control and analysis of Key Input Variables

Digital Technology in the Wax Room Digital Technology allows for: • Store recipes • Control and analysis of Key Input Variables • Repeatable setups

Digital Technology in the Wax Room Digital Technology allows for: • Store recipes • Control and analysis of Key Input Variables • Repeatable setups • Control who can make process changes

Digital Technology in the Wax Room Digital Technology allows for: • Store recipes • Control and analysis of Key Input Variables • Repeatable setups • Control who can make process changes • Vary the flow and pressure during an injection cycle

Why Not Perfect Patterns? The controls have the ability to give you a perfect pattern each time. • W hy are�’t fou�dries produ�i�g perfe�t patter�s all the ti�e? • Why do we still have pattern defects?

Why Not Perfect Patterns? No matter how sophisticated the instrumentation is, the application of that instrumentation and how it is used to control the process is the real challenge.

Why Not Perfect Patterns? How do you know that your machine is doing what it is supposed to do?

Data Collection How do you �o�pare o�e �a�ufa�turer’s �a�hi�e to another?

Data Collection MPI’s 20 -20 Process Vision Pressure readout at the nozzle Through the use of digital data collection devices

Data Collection Data collection Device Wax temperature sensing Wax pressure sensing Wax Flow sensing

Data Collection Eliminate your machines personality Achieve repeatability for all your machines

Data Collection Example #1 A large foundry benefited from the use of a data collection device • Collected Data from all machines • Saw variations between machines • Saw variations within the machines

Data Collection Example #1 Compared data with a newer Digitally controlled machine

Data Collection Example #1 In the above example, one of the data points being collected was the wax temperature. • Used data collected to analyze, through Statistical Process Control, wax temperature variation at the nozzle • Data was gathered every 0.1 second • See illustration 2

Digital Technology in the Wax Room

Data Collection Example #2 • It is difficult to predict the outcome of an injection recipe • Start with a similar recipe of a know part • What happens if your part has dimensional variation from specification?

Data Collection Example #2 Using Data to drive your injection recipe • Create a 2k full factorial Design of Experiment (DOE) • One of our customers conducted such and experiment

Dim 1 Dim 2 0.1017 0.0941 0.0791 0.0856 1. Dwell Time 1. Wax Flow 0.0508 0.0598 0.0570 0.0531 2. Dwell Time 1. Wax Pressure 0.0921 0.0720 0.0920 0.0817 1. Dwell Time 2. Wax Flow 0.0435 0.0489 0.0641 0.0650 2. Dwell Time 1. Wax Temp 0.0804 0.0865 0.0764 0.0858 1. Dwell Time 1. Wax Flow 0.0656 0.0459 0.0525 0.0485 2. Dwell Time 2. Wax Pressure 0.0708 0.0788 0.0835 0.0655 1. Dwell Time 2. Wax Flow 0.0425 0.0412 0.0400 0.0431 2. Dwell Time 1. Platen Temperature 0.0914 0.0709 0.0884 0.0877 1. Dwell Time 1. Wax Flow 0.0470 0.0510 0.0609 0.0535 2. Dwell Time 1. Wax Pressure 0.0873 0.0863 0.0900 0.0803 1. Dwell Time 2. Wax Flow 0.0470 0.0521 0.0512 0.0510 2. Dwell Time 2. Wax Temp 0.0820 0.0805 0.0751 0.0707 1. Dwell Time 1. Wax Flow 0.0402 0.0480 0.0559 0.0488 2. Dwell Time 2. Wax Pressure 0.0489 0.0790 0.0500 0.0805 1. Dwell Time 2. Wax Flow 0.0511 0.0425 0.0410 0.0457 2. Dwell Time Wax Parameter DOE 0.1076 0.0959 0.0885 0.0983

132 degrees 140 degrees 2 cu in / sec 10 cu in / sec 0.0716 0.0658 Dim 1 vs Wax Temp 0.0700 0.0674 Dim 1 vs Wax Flow 0.0700 0.0662 Dim 2 vs Wax Temp 0.0680 0.0683 Dim 2 vs Wax Flow Dimensional Change relative to Wax Dimensional Change relative to Wax Temp Flow 0.0705 0.0720 0.0700 0.0710 Check Fixture Value Check Fixture value 0.0695 0.0700 0.0690 0.0690 0.0685 0.0680 0.0680 0.0670 0.0660 0.0675 0.0670 0.0650 2 cu in / sec 10 cu in / sec 132 degrees 140 degrees Dim 1 vs Wax Flow Dim 2 vs Wax Flow Dim 1 vs Wax Temp Dim 2 vs Wax Temp 70 degrees 80 degrees 200 psi 650 psi Dim 1 vs Platen Temp 0.0650 0.0725 Dim 1 vs Wax Pressure 0.0732 0.0643 Dim 2 vs Platen Temp 0.0657 0.0705 Dim 2 vs Wax Pressure 0.0729 0.0633 Dimensional Change relative to Wax Injections Dimensional Change relative to Platen Pressure Temp 0.0740 0.0750 0.0720 0.0740 Check Fixture value Check Fixture Value 0.0730 0.0720 0.0700 0.0710 0.0680 0.0700 0.0690 0.0660 0.0680 0.0670 0.0640 0.0660 0.0650 0.0620 0.0640 200 psi 650 psi 70 degrees 80 degrees Dim 1 vs Platen Temp Dim 2 vs Platen Temp Dim 1 vs Wax Pressure Dim 2 vs Wax Pressure

85 sec 200 sec 0.0854 0.0521 Dim 1 vs Dwell Time 0.0833 0.0530 Dim 2 vs Dwell Time Dimensional Change relative to Wax Dwell Note: The larger number denotes a smaller part Time 0.0900 Check Fixture Value 0.0800 0.0700 0.0600 0.0500 85 sec 200 sec Dim 1 vs Dwell Time Dim 2 vs Dwell Time 200 psi & 85 sec 650 psi & 200 sec 200 psi & 200 sec 650 psi & 85 sec 0.0922 0.0473 0.0542 0.0786 Dim 1 vs Wax Pressure 1 and Dwell Time 1 Dim 1 vs Wax Pressure 1 and Dwell Time 2 0.0892 0.0493 0.0416 0.0774 Dim 2 vs Wax Pressure 2 and Dwell Time 2 Dim 2 vs Wax Pressure 2 and Dwell Time 1 Dimensional Change relative to Wax Dimensional Change relative to Wax Pressure and Dwell Time Pressure and Dwell Time 0.0800 0.1000 Check Fixture Values Check Fixture Values 0.0700 0.0800 0.0600 0.0600 0.0500 0.0400 0.0400 200 psi & 85 sec 650 psi & 200 sec 200 psi & 200 sec 650 psi & 85 sec Dim 1 vs Wax Pressure 1 and Dwell Time 1 Dim 1 vs Wax Pressure 1 and Dwell Time 2 Dim 2 vs Wax Pressure 2 and Dwell Time 2 Dim 2 vs Wax Pressure 2 and Dwell Time 1

Train Your Personnel Having your personnel adapt to the new digital technology of the wax room is key to success. • Need to �e trai�ed o� it’s operatio� • Understand the differences between old and new • The operator may be reluctant to change

Train Your Personnel It is not uncommon to find a new digitally controlled machine setup incorrectly: Example #1: Temperature variations in the machine due to improper setup, especially in the injection nozzle

Train Your Personnel It is not uncommon to find a new digitally controlled machine setup incorrectly: Example #1: Temperature variations in the machine due to improper setup Example #2: Machine designed to run paste wax but is used as a liquid machine

Train Your Personnel It is not uncommon to find a new digitally controlled machine setup incorrectly: Example #1: Temperature variations in the machine due to improper setup Example #2: Machine designed to run paste wax but is used as a liquid machine Example #3: Wax flow control being controlled with wax pressure and not understanding why

Train Your Personnel

Robotic Integration Robotic Integration in the wax room: Robots have become a reality in the wax room

Robotic Integration Robotic Integration in the wax room: Robots have become a reality in the wax room • Automated wax injection cell using a 6 axis robot